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1 Leaves opposite, reduced to scales a few mm long, clasping and appressed against the succulent stem; flowers in groups of 3, sunken into the stem; [subfamily Salicornioideae]. |
1 Leaves alternate, not reduced to scales; flowers not sunken into the stem. |
..2 Fruit enclosed and concealed by paired accrescent bracteoles (these usually deltoid, diamond-shaped, or ovoid); [subfamily Chenopodioideae]. |
....3 Leaves pale green to silvery green; stigmas 2; plants without basal leaves, the stems freely and rather divergently branched; [native or introduced, primarily in saline situations]; [tribe Atripliceae] |
....3 Leaves bright to dark green; stigmas 4-5; plants with basal leaves, the flowering stems erect, strict or with ascending branches in the inflorescence; [introduced, frequently cultivated as a garden vegetable, rarely escaped]; [tribe Spinacieae] |
..2 Fruit enclosed by the persistent calyx. |
......4 Leaves sessile, linear (linear to lanceolate in Corispermum), entire, succulent or not. |
........5 Leaves spine-tipped with a sharp spine > (0.5) 1 mm long; [subfamily Salsoloideae] |
........5 Leaves not spine-tipped. |
..........6 Leaves glabrous; [subfamily Suaedoideae] |
..........6 Leaves pubescent to villous; [subfamily Camphorosmoideae]. |
............ 7 Calyx segments (all 5) bearing a horizontal wing or hooked spines |
............ 7 Calyx segments (1 lower and 2 upper) bearing stout knobs |
......4 Leaves petiolate, lanceolate or wider, the larger leaves generally toothed, not succulent or only slightly so. |
............ ..8 Fruit dehiscent; ovary half-inferior; roots usually enlarged; [subfamily Betioideae] |
............ ..8 Fruit indehiscent; ovary superior; roots not enlarged; [subfamily Chenopodioideae]. |
............ ....9 Fruiting calyx winged horizontally |
............ ....9 Fruiting calyx not winged, the lobes flat, keeled, or hooded. |
............ ......10 Plants aromatic, leaves and perianth with stalked glandular hairs and/or subsessile glands |
............ ......10 Plants non-aromatic (but sometimes fetid), vesicular hairy (farinose) or glabrous. |
............ ........11 Inflorescences in dichasial or monochasial loose cymes; plants glabrous or glabrescent |
............ ........11 Inflorescences spicately or paniculately arranged dense glomerules with few to many flowers; plants either farinose (at least when young) or glabrous. |
............ ..........12 Stems unbranched or sparingly branched; basal leaves often forming a rosette; perianth often changed to succulent or hardened in fruit, sometimes reduced to 1 lobe; stigmas 2-4; seeds vertical in the fruit |
............ ..........12 Stem usually branched; basal leaves not in a rosette; perianth unchanged in fruit, not reduced; stigmas 2 (-3), seeds vertical and/or horizontal in the fruit. |
............ ............ 13 Flowers often dimorphic, in lateral flowers perianth segments 3 (-5), seeds either vertical or horizontal in the fruit; stamens 1-3 |
............ ............ 13 Flowers not dimorphic, perianth segments 5, seeds exclusively horizontal in the fruit; stamens almost always 5. |
............ ............ ..14 Young stems and leaves not farinose (with vesicular trichomes that become totally collapsed when dry, and are caducous and therefore rarely present at maturity); perianth segments with prominent midvein visible inside; seeds distinctly pitted to sometimes rugulose or almost smooth |
............ ............ ..14 Young stems and leaves densely farinose (covered with vesicular globose trichomes that become cup-shaped when dry and are mostly persistent at maturity); perianth segments without prominent midvein visible inside; seeds smooth or striate and somewhat rugulose, sometimes pitted |
1 Leaves deeply pinnately lobed, the lobes linear; plant perennial; mature calyx shallowly toothed, obovoid-urceolate, reticulate-veiny; [section Adenois] |
1 Leaves serrate to sinuate-pinnatifid, the lobes broad-based and triangular-tapered; plant annual; mature calyx deeply lobed, neither reticulate nor prominently veined. |
..2 Flowers in a slender thyrsoid inflorescence of lateral cymes; [section Botryoides] |
..2 Flowers either solitary and spaced along the inflorescence axis, or in dense glomerules arranged secondarily into spikes and panicles. |
....3 Flowers solitary, sessile, and spaced along the inflorescence axis; calyx lobes strongly keeled, at maturity with a continuous, horizontal, scarious wing; [section Adenois]. |
....3 Flowers in dense glomerules arranged secondarily into spikes and panicles; calyx lobes not winged. |
......4 Leaf blades 2-8 cm long; seeds mostly horizontal; stems 3-15 dm tall; [section Adenois]. |
........5 Inflorescences foliose throughout; primary leaves not lobed |
........5 Inflorescences leafless (leaves in the inflorescence absent or shorter than the glomerules); primary leaves regularly lobed |
......4 Leaf blades 0.5-2.7 cm long; seeds vertical; stems 0.5-5 dm tall; [section Dysphania]. |
..........6 Perianth segments rounded |
..........6 Perianth segments keeled and/or crested |
............ 7 Perianth segments keeled only |
............ 7 Perianth segments both keeled and crested |